Eaglecrest ...Ground Under Repair

In December 2025, the Town issued a Request for Quotations for the reconfiguration of the Eaglecrest Golf Course. The reconfiguration consists of turning seven holes from the current golf course into a nine hole course. This will require the construction of tee boxes, greens, sand traps and fairways, upgrading of irrigation systems and drainage, new cart paths, tree planting, enlarging of a pond and, perhaps, installation of a bridge. The RFQ went out and proposals were received from three contractors. The proposals were assessed by staff and a contractor was chosen. At the February 11, 2026 council meeting, staff requested Council to authorize the awarding of the contract to Grassroots Enterprises Inc. ("Grassroots").

Councillor Harrison questioned whether an economic analysis had been done to demonstrate that the proposed design would produce a financially viable business operation. Good question to ask, but perhaps this should have been done prior to the purchase. Councillor Young asked whether the awarding of the contract could be delayed and the existing facilities and layout utilized in the interim. Little discussion ensued and the resolution awarding the contract to Grassroots was passed, with Councilors Harrison and Young opposed.

The amount of the winning contract from Grassroots is either $1,181,000 or $1,181,800. The amount is not known because the staff report and the council resolutions reference both amounts in various places in the documents. The $700 discrepancy is probably moot since council approved a total project cost of $1,650,000 to allow for an expanded scope of work, if required. The $469,000 or $468,200 (depending on which amount is correct) equals 40% of the contract price. A rather large contingency, in my opinion. Given that the RFQ required the contractor to set out specific costs for the required work, it begs the question of what the expanded scope of work will be. It seems to me that if the Town and Grassroots have agreed on the cost and the extent of the work to be done, as set forth in the RFQ, there should not be any further work required or any further costs incurred.

The Town seems to be pulling out all the stops to get the golf course reconfigured, rebuilt and open for play as soon as possible. The RFQ stated that the Town anticipated the project startup to be in early February with the conclusion of the project by May 30, 2026. Further to this, resolutions were passed at the February 11 meeting, the primary purpose being to ensure that construction is not delayed.

One of the resolutions passed at the February 11 meeting delegates authority to staff to approve future adjustments to the scope of work without having to come back to Council for approval of the actual work or its cost, limited only by the $1,650,000 limit. The scope of the work for which staff is authorized to make adjustments is broadly worded in the resolution and appears to have few limitations.

The Town purchases many goods and services for its operations and has policies that must be followed to do so. One of the Town's policies requires the CAO to obtain Council approval before signing purchase orders over $75,000. This must have been seen as a hindrance as a resolution passed at the February 11 meeting overrode this by granting authority to the CAO to sign purchase orders relating to the reconfiguration of Eaglecrest Golf Course up to $1,650,000 without having to go to council for approval. I could be wrong, but, my read of this resolution, combined with the one referred to in the previous paragraph, implies that staff can add to the scope of the work and spend a further $469,000 without any input from council.

A further resolution passed at the meeting was the appointment of the Mayor as the liaison, to, in the words of the resolution, "serve as an information conduit for Council and to provide advice on the project's budget". Presumably, the idea behind this resolution is, as with the other resolutions, to ensure that the project proceeds as quickly as possible without any delay. This resolution, along with the others relating to the Eaglecrest Golf Course reconfiguration, was opposed by Councilors Harrison and Young.

One of the things that I noticed when the plan for the reconfiguration of the golf course was first proposed was a bridge connecting the 4th hole to the 5th tee boxes. This was identified as a requirement in the RFQ. Grassroot's proposal does not include a bridge. The staff report presented to Council at the February 11 meeting stated that "further site analysis and consultation with specialized consultants are required before staff can confirm if a bridge is necessary [and] should subsequent technical review determine that a bridge is required, staff will report back to Council with recommendations for approach and associated cost implications prior to proceeding." It was not disclosed whether the two other proposals included a bridge or why the bridge seems to be optional. It may be worth remembering that the bridge constructed recently at the Memorial Golf Course cost $700,000.

The staff report presented at the February 11 meeting stated that the Town's 2026-2030 Financial Plan included "a $2.5 million provision for capital expenditures related to the reconfiguration of the golf course and other capital investments required to bring the course, facilities, and equipment to a suitable operational standard [and the] $1.65 million can be accommodated within the proposed allocation that Council will be asked to approve in the 2026-2030 Financial Plan." This is another example of the speed at which some of Council wish to get the golf course open. The 2026 budget has not yet been finalized. In fact, it has not even been presented to Council for comment. It is scheduled to go to Council for first and second reading on February 25, with adoption scheduled for April 1. I can recall instances where a critical infrastructure project is proposed before a budget has been adopted and staff asks Council for pre-budget approval of the funding. This was not done for the golf course reconfiguration. Why not? In my opinion it is highly unusual for Council to approve a contract before approving the funds in the budget. Apparently, it is so critical that this project be fast tracked that the Town no longer follows its usual processes. Imagine the chaos if, for some reason, the anticipated budget does not get approved.

Relative to the draft budget, background materials indicated that the funding for this project was to come from future Eaglecrest land sales. I can only surmise that funds from the Town's contributed surplus or one of the reserve funds will be used to pay Grassroots for its work as it is unlikely that the Town will be in receipt of any funds from these land sales before the bill is due.

I am still struggling to understand why the Town is prioritizing the reconstruction of the golf course, and at the "full steam ahead" pace, considering that:

1. The Town has not approved the 2026 budget;

2. We do not appear to have any extra money in hand (as evidenced by the initial proposal for an 8.1% increase in property taxes) and the deferral of critical repairs to infrastructure that should be given priority over revamping of the golf course;

3. There is a viable interim step, namely, to leave the golf course as is and put in a temporary operator (or have the Town run it) until proper public engagement and market analysis is undertaken. The golf course could be open all spring and summer and close down if need be in October for reconstruction when the results of the public engagement and market analysis are completed.

In summary, slow down. What is the urgency?

James Noel

February 18 2026

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Link to Feb 11 2026 council meeting